Liam Fox will 'scrap HS2' if he becomes PM and Conservative leader

Contender: Dr Liam Fox favours investing in regional airports rather than high-speed rail if he becomes Tory leader and PM
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Joseph Watts4 July 2016
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Liam Fox today signalled he would scrap the HS2 high-speed rail scheme if he becomes prime minister.

The former defence secretary said the £55 billion earmarked for the project could be better used upgrading regional lines.

Dr Fox argued that a decision to reject HS2 was one of several tough choices a future PM would need to make, including renewing the UK’s nuclear deterrent quickly.

Speaking at the Policy Exchange think tank in London, the Tory leadership contender said: “Is [HS2] really the best way to use any funding available for transport infrastructure?

“I personally favour more investment in the regions to enable hub airports to flourish.

“Not all journeys begin and end in London and we must ask if it is worth such a huge investment to trim merely minutes from London travel times.”

The move is likely to be popular with Tories who are angry at plans to carve a route for the high-speed rail line through a swathe of rural Britain.

Dr Fox also set himself apart from frontrunner Theresa May, who has called for the long-standing Tory target of achieving a deficit by 2020 to be scrapped.

He said: “All the talk of ‘austerity’ at a time of record spending has made it much more difficult to make the case of living within our means.

“It is simply wrong to spend money today and pass the bill on to the next generation in the form of debt interest.”

He also backed tax cuts, called for an increase in defence spending and a review of the aid budget, the maintenance of which David Cameron made a key symbol of his premiership.

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